Tag: John Lynch

What 49ers general manager John Lynch will remember most about Jimmy Garoppolo’s starting debut for San Francisco is not anything the quarterback individually did during a 26-for-37, 293-yard outing.

“To me, the really good and great players make people around them better,” Lynch told Sporting News during a Friday telephone interview. “That’s what I was most pleased to see. He lifted the entire team.

Falcons receiver Julio Jones caught 12 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-20 win over the Buccaneers. It was the third career game with at least 250 receiving yards for Jones and no other player in NFL history has more than one such game.

The Patriots ran a fake punt on fourth-and-9 from their own 26-yard line on the opening series of Sunday’s game against the Dolphins and they got it to set the tone in a 35-17 victory. It was New England’s first fake punt since 2004.

I’m just not sure the Stars have the scoring depth to push them over the hump. As Greg already noted, the Western Conference is going to be competitive for the last few spots. I’ve somehow talked myself into the Golden Knights making it — barring a pre-deadline fire sale to continue collecting assets for the future.

Their window to reach the postseason extends only that far, while their stack of arbitration-eligible players this winter could take their budget beyond $100 million for just the third time in franchise history. I’m expecting GM Mike Hazen to try some creative solutions to work around that expanding budget while keeping the team competitive. — Kahrl